The Majesty of Manoa

By Melissa Chang

Published: 2011.04.13 01:23 AM

It’s rare to find a home sitting on more than an acre of land in metro Honolulu, so you would think the property at 2649 Huapala St. would be easy to spot. Yet, when I drove up to the address in Manoa, my GPS said I had arrived, but I didn’t see any house.

As it turns out, this 85-year old Charles Dickey classic is set back from the street down a long driveway. Once you approach the front yard, you can see that the home sits on an expansive, rolling lawn with a dramatic, unobstructed view of the Koolau mountains. To give you perspective on how large this property is, an acre is almost as big as a football field, minus the end zones.

The structure is amazingly well-preserved; touring the house was like walking through a time warp into my own grandmother’s Puunui home, built about the same time. The retro, rectangular layout features an abundance of storage (all the way to the ceiling) to enable more open living areas. Little touches, like the Dickey molding and hand-chiseled woodwork that you can’t get anymore, anywhere, subtly added to the trip down memory lane.

There’s also room for guests, with a stand-alone cottage outside; unless you have kids, in which case the cottage can be used as a play area.

One of the two tennis courts in the back was converted into a huge greenhouse for growing orchids. The new owners could opt to continue this hobby, or return it to its original state as a tennis court, since it still has a small “stadium seating” area next to it. I could almost imagine Don Draper from Mad Men entertaining guests in this area.

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About Our Writer

Rachel Ross Bradley is a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hawai‘i Realty. Raised in Hawai‘i Kai, she previously worked in public relations and marketing where she assisted some of O‘ahu’s biggest community developers, educators and businesses. She loves connecting people and says that real estate is a form of matchmaking. She is mom to three teenagers and an avid runner, and notes that the hour each day of pavement-pounding is the only teen-angst-free peace and quiet she gets all day. rachelr@bhhshawaii.com